Tags
Building, Dungeons & Dragons, Fantasy, Labyrinth Lord, Maps, Old School Essentials, OSE, OSR, RPG, Tower
This asymmetric hexagonal tower has eight floors. The height of the full tower is easily adjusted by choosing if the spiral stairs are 270 degrees (as shown) or if they include an additional 360 degrees of rotation between floors that isn’t shown. This makes the floors roughly 10 feet apart or for a more intimidating structure up to 20 feet apart (for a towering 160 feet). The stairs run clockwise downwards indicating that this is likely a human construction (as most humans are right-handed – elves and dwarves in my campaigns are mostly left-handed).
There are few openings on the ground level of the tower (which is 6 feet above the hill it is built on to aid in defense) while the second and third levels are pierced by multiple arrow slits and the higher levels have actual windows. Levels 1 & 2 are mostly dedicated to defense and storage. Level 3 is the “great hall” and kitchen. Levels 4 & 5 have each been divided into multiple rooms with a pair of balconies on level 5. Level 6 appears to have some special function (eldritch experimentation? demon summoning? contacting higher planes?) and has a small conference room in the tower extension. Finally, the spire on level 8 is almost definitely a wizard’s workroom.
But who dwells here? Who built this spire on the barren hilltop? I’ll leave that to you.
The 1200 dpi versions of the map were drawn at a scale of 300 pixels per square and are 10,200 pixels (34 squares) wide. To use this with a VTT you would need to resize the squares to either 70 pixels (for 5′ squares) or 140 pixels (for 10′ squares) – so resizing it to either 2,380 pixels wide or 4,760 pixels wide, respectively.
The maps on Dyson’s Dodecahedron are released for free personal use thanks to the support of awesome patrons like you over on Patreon. Every month over 600 patrons come together to make these releases possible. You can help too in order to keep the flow of maps coming and to improve their quality – and even get a map of your own!
Fantastic map! Any chance we can get an exterior view, an iso or an elevation perhaps? Thanks!
I’m surprised you went with a square grid. This tower naturally lends itself to hex.
Download the no-grid version and add a hex overlay. Personally, I like to use the hex grid outside and keep the square grid inside..
> “But who dwells here? Who built this spire on the barren hilltop?”
It was me, I admit it. If you twist a torch sconce on the first floor, the spiral stairs to Level 2 sink into the floor forming a staircase down to my secret library. I just can’t get private time in my home library! So I needed to make another one, far away! I didn’t intend for all those adventurers to get killed by my artisanal dungeon dressing, I swear!
Reblogged this on DDOCentral.
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I think these maps are great and get them in emails each time you publish. Great work, and really interesting–
Big fan of your towers!
Added to the Blog Database.
If the stairs run clockwise downwards, doesn’t that impede the sword hands of defenders? Medieval spiral stairs ran clockwise going up?
Nope. Going up clockwise means a righty is always turning *into* their weapon hand, hampering any swing. A lefty has their full range of motion going up in that direction.
Of course! Mea culpa. I was thinking about defence from righties and it states that the demi-humans are lefties. Ignore me!
NP. You should have seen me looking at my hands and walking in a circle. Only when I raised my arm in a shield block did I truly figure it out. A righty can only use an up-down chopping motion with a shield. It was kinda funny to watch.
That’s actually a myth anyways. Research into actual medieval construction has shown that stairs were a mix of clockwise and counterclockwise based on the space available.